AUSTIN — Every day, lawmakers entering the Texas House face a gantlet of advocates handing out "one-pagers" - flyers promoting or bashing the bills scheduled for debate that day - usually signed by several like-minded organizations.

The one-pager touting this year's reorganization of the Texas juvenile justice system, however, carried an endorsement by the strangest of political bedfellows this session: the liberal Texas Appleseed and the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation.

Their joint endorsement blessed the latest milestone in a five-year transformation of the Texas criminal justice system, perhaps the one area in state government where the left and right have found common ground — in the shared belief that prisons cost too much and accomplish little.

In a departure from the partisan rancor dominating this session, lawmakers of all stripes embraced the Texas Youth Council's "sunset" bill, which deepened Texas' commitment to cutting-edge programs outside institutional settings. The proposal is the progression of reforms in the Texas adult prison system that reduced recidivism by emphasizing drug and alcohol treatment and other therapeutic programs.

"It got so much support because it makes so damn much sense," said Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, the Senate sponsor who noted that the measure passed unanimously in the Senate and with only two dissenting votes in the House.

Whitmire and House sponsor Jerry Madden, R-Richardson, who together have promoted similar reforms in the adult criminal justice system, turned their attention to the TYC when it was rocked by a sex abuse scandal six years ago. Last session, Whitmire and Madden persuaded the Legislature to give a financial incentive to counties to keep youths in local programs. Today, TYC has 1,400 juveniles in custody, down from 5,000 in 2006. The juvenile crime rate also has fallen.

Big savings forecast

"We let the money follow the kids," Whitmire said. "It worked better than anyone's imagination." This year's bill is projected to save the state $150 million.

A recent report spotlighted the policy's success in Bexar County, which used the new state funding to treat 323 youth offenders for substance abuse, anger management and other issues. While the typical participant had at least one felony and multiple misdemeanor convictions, only seven who participated in the programs subsequently were sent to TYC, according to the study by Texas Appleseed, Disability Rights Texas and the National Center for Youth Law.

Still, in a state where tough-on-crime campaign promises are commonplace, Whitmire and Madden have faced political resistance during their five-year collaboration. The endorsement by the TPPF, a leading conservative think tank, gave the pair credibility with conservatives.

TPPF generally supports low-tax policies, but its involvement was inspired by more than just fiscal concerns, according to Midland oilman Tim Dunn, a donor and board member. Dunn said he decided to underwrite a criminal justice researcher at the think tank because he was impressed by former Nixon adviser Chuck Colson's prison ministry. He also saw the growth of the prison industry as an extension of government power, which clashes with his views on limited government.

"We care about money too," Dunn said. But, he added, "It is not in our best interest to take someone who is a productive member of society and train them to be a hardened criminal. It's morally stupid."

Whitmire has advocated for alternatives to prison since the 1990s, when he championed prison drug and alcohol treatment programs - only to see Republican-dominated Legislatures later cut funding to them.

In 2007, Whitmire and Madden poured $240 million into programs that diverted offenders from prison by offering better probation and parole supervision and mandatory drug and alcohol treatment, saving another $300 million that would have been spent building new prisons.

Parole revocations have declined 40 percent since then - further reducing the state's need for new prisons.

Therapy done remotely

Applying the same lessons to the juvenile justice system will not come a minute too soon, according to Whitmire, who called TYC "a broken model." Handicapped by rural settings, TYC is challenged to hire well-trained personnel and provide the mental health treatment most youth offenders need, he said.

In many cases, therapy is provided via teleconference with a psychiatrist at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, he said. Now, county probation departments will receive money from the state to provide mental health services if the offender is kept in the community, Whitmire said.

"The most conservative thing you can do is prevent the next crime," he said. "If you lock kids up and don't deal with the root causes, they are going to re-offend."

"One thing we know is that kids committed to TYC have a much more likelihood of becoming involved in the adult criminal justice system," said Deborah Fowler, deputy director of Texas Appleseed. "What these programs are doing is diverting kids from that path."